Ba Na Mountains Trip

On Friday, the kids from the Children’s Shelter, FHF staff and volunteers embarked on a day excursion to Ba Na Mountains. It was my first ‘school’ excursion in a long time, so I was pretty excited!

We assembled onto the bus and took off from the Children’s Shelter at 6.30am, and drove for a couple of hours, past Da Nang before reaching Ba Na Mountains. Ba Na Mountains is located in the Truong Son mountain range 25 km to the SW of Da Nang at an altitude of 1487m. Upon arrival to Ba Na, we did a quick head count, formed two straight lines and marched into the tourist area. The main attraction there is the cable car ride up to the top of the mountain, which we rode for 15 minutes, with views of the lush green jungle and waterfalls along the way.

Reaching the top of the mountain, it was refreshing to have a much cooler climate than we did at the foothills. The House Mothers of the Children’s Shelter had packed a delicious lunch of xoi (sticky rice) and braised chicken all wrapped in banana leaf, which the children and staff enjoyed over a picnic under some shady trees. With our bellies full, and with the much cooler climate, all the children and staff happily explored the area and hiked a few flights of stairs to Linh Ung Pagoda, which is symbolized by a 27m tall Buddha.

The children really enjoyed themselves. It was nice to hear squeals of delight and excitement, and to see lots of running around in awe. Ah, child-like wonder! With the children sufficiently tired, we packed them all into the bus and they napped for most of the ride back home. Playing is tiring business!

All in all, a nice day out for some sight seeing and great time spent playing with the children.

- Traci